Call for Better Pay: Should South Africa’s Municipal Councillors Be Earning More?

Minister Hlabisa’s push for higher salaries reignites debate over governance, service delivery, and fairness in local government.

Is it time to rethink what municipal councillors earn? That’s the question Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Velenkosini Hlabisa put forward during a high-level dialogue in Midrand this week, as government reviews the 1998 White Paper on Local Government, a document long due for an update.

His reasoning? Underpaid councillors can’t give full attention to their duties. They moonlight, they struggle, and service delivery suffers.

“We Can’t Run Municipalities on Peanuts”

Hlabisa didn’t mince words. South Africa’s municipalities, many of which are “in a dire state,” need urgent revival. But to run them like businesses, he argues, you need to pay like a business, especially in rural areas, where recruiting top talent is a serious challenge.

“If our councillors are paid peanuts, they will spend most of their time on other jobs and only pay lip service to service delivery,” said Hlabisa.

The minister also highlighted the lack of clean audits, ongoing infrastructure breakdowns, and public dissatisfaction as evidence that something structural must change and that includes pay scales for councillors, municipal managers, and senior staff.

Pushback from Ratepayers: “They’re Paid Well Enough”

But not everyone is buying it.

Anthony Waldhausen from the Msunduzi Association of Residents, Ratepayers, and Civics said the idea is out of touch with public frustration. “We disagree completely. They are being paid well and with other perks currently,” he said.

There are also concerns over pay equity. “Why do PR councillors earn the same as ward councillors?” he asked. “PR councillors don’t have the same responsibilities.”

Some councillors in small municipalities earn around R23,000 a month, which drops to about R14,000 after deductions. While this may seem modest, metro councillors and committee chairs can reportedly earn up to R1 million annually.

Corruption, Motivation, and the Rural Brain Drain

In contrast, others in the sector say better pay could reduce corruption and encourage councillors to stay focused on community needs.

Councillor Abbas Warasally, from Alfred Duma Local Municipality, believes that “presently, some councillors take on a second job to make ends meet. This leaves communities unassisted.”

He argued that more attractive pay could cut down on bribes and shortcuts while encouraging councillors to become full-time servants of the public.

What About the Money?

There’s still the elephant in the room, how to pay for it.

Professor Pundy Pillay from the Wits School of Governance questioned the feasibility of Hlabisa’s suggestion. “It might change behaviour, yes. But where will the money come from?” he asked.

The funding model remains flawed, with national and provincial departments soaking up most of the budget, leaving local government underfunded and overstretched.

Pillay was also sceptical that higher salaries alone would solve the skills shortage in rural municipalities. “Professionals tend to prefer the private sector or higher levels of government,” he said. A better strategy, he argued, is to recruit locally , people who already belong to those communities and are committed to their development.

Beyond Pay: A Bigger Picture

Hlabisa’s comments land at a time when trust in local government is low, and service delivery protests are widespread. While salary reform could be part of the solution, experts say it must go hand-in-hand with governance improvements, clear performance metrics, and transparency.

As South Africa revisits its vision for local government, the debate over councillor pay raises a bigger question: Are we getting what we pay for or are we simply paying without demanding accountability?

Either way, municipal reform is no longer optional it’s urgent. And how we treat the people at the frontlines of local service delivery may determine how soon struggling communities start to see change.

{Source: IOL}

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